Her Own Worst Enemy
by FaithRocks
Summary: Sarah has always kept stuff together, But can one accident send her spiraling down? Reviews are appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

It was a terribly rainy night. _Wow, what a night_ thought Sara. The case had been a bad one. She couldn't get the kids faces out of her head: the two dead ones and their siblings. They all shared this look, the lost look, the one that is desperate for love. A loud screech snapped her out of her daze, and she saw a big four wheeler coming at her head on. She swerved to right to avoid the truck; her car spun out of control and went over the guardrail. The Tahoe came to a stop at the bottom of the slope. And there in the mangled jeep sat Sara Sidle's Unconscious body.

When Sara woke up, her whole body was in pain, and she had no memory of the accident or getting rescued. Sara looked around the room, and her eyes fall on an orderly. He made her smile because he reminded her of Greg, head banging to whatever music that was blasting in his ear phones, and he had messy blond hair. She started to chuckle, and startled the poor boy. He stammered, "Sorry miss I..."

Sara cut him off. "It's ok." She tried to get up to show him, but as she started to move, a searing pain in her side made her collapse on the bed.

"Miss Sidle you shouldn't try to move you have some broken ribs and a nasty gash on your head."

Wincing at his statement, Sara went on to ask him when she could leave. "Well if you give me a second I can get the doctor for you."

After the orderly shuffled out the room, Sara looked around the room. It looked like a normal hospital room; the walls were grossly white with the hospital smell and the TV hanging from the wall. A few minutes later a doctor walked in. Clearing her throat she started.

"Hi I'm your doctor Nicole Way, you can call me Nicole. Let me tell you Miss Sidle, you are one lucky women, your seat belt saved your life."

"So when Can I go home?" Sara asked.

"Well, because of the gash on your head, we are keeping you over night for observation. Is there anyone we can call for you?"

That question made Sara think. There was Grissom. No, he'll think I'm just trying to get him here for other reasons. Warrick? No he has a wife now. Catherine... I wish but I can't bother her. She has a kid at home. Greg? He'll act to weird and tell the whole lab so that leaves Nick, and after the case we had, he's probably knocked out. Sara shook her head. "No, there's no one." The doctor smiled and told her to get some rest, before leaving.

As the night dragged on, Sara was able to catch a few hours of sleep, and in the morning, the pain had eased and she was able to leave. She checked her self out and headed home, alone. When Sara got to her apartment she went straight to fridge grabbed a beer, and settled herself on the couch. Shortly after she turned on the TV, she was out cold. She woke up around 8. She cursed, her ribs were killing her again, and she popped a few painkillers before calling her cab. She took a quick shower and met the car in front of her apartment. When the cab pulled up to the lab she decided not to tell anyone what happened. They probably wouldn't care any way, she reasoned, plus it had been her day off yesterday so she knew she wasn't missed and if they asked about her head, she fell in a biking accident: perfect cover. She paid the cabby and went inside to start another shift like nothing happened.


	2. Chapter 2

Sara took a deep breath before walking in; she walked to the locker room and sighed with relief upon seeing that it was empty. She quickly discarded her jacket in her locker and made her way to the break room, where she found everyone else. She cursed silently and made her way into the room. The boys were huddled in front of the little TV playing some video game, and Catherine was reading at the table.

"Whoa Sara ...Lose a fight with a bike?" Nick joked.

Playing along Sara Laughed and said "yup."

Now making her way over, Catherine took a closer look. " A bike accident, come on Sara, what really happened? You can tell us."

" It's nothing Cat " but inside Sara was screaming, "Yeah like you guys give a damn." Turning to Catherine Sara gave her a smile trying to reassure her that everything was fine.

Before Catherine could reply, Grissom walked in with the assignments. "I got a B and E in a sorority "Nick and Warrick jumped on that. "Sara, you and Catherine have Murder suicide in Fremont. And Greg you're with me, we have db in a termite mound."

Catherine and Sara got in to Catherine's Tahoe and headed out to the scene. Catherine knew something was up with Sara but decided to drop it until she could talk to Gill. They rode to the scene in uncomfortable silence.

When they arrived at the scene it was all business, with no time to talk. The night seemed to drag on for Sara and when it finally came to an end, she was more then happy to get to the locker room and head home.

But as she passed Grissom's office she heard raised voices, Even though she couldn't hear everything that was going on she was able to make out a few things like her name, but what shocked her was when Catherine said "A date." Not waiting to hear what Grissom said, she left without looking back.

As she got in her cab the tears started to fall. He didn't care anymore, no one did. Deep down she always knew she wasn't good enough for him, but now it was official, he had not only chosen someone else, but he had cast her aside. As the cabby pulled up to her apartment she dried her tears and headed inside. She was so preoccupied with her thoughts she didn't notice the figure step out of the corner till he said her name. She looked up and saw a very disheveled Hank.


	3. Catherine figures it out

Top of Form

"Hank what are you doing here?" Sara asked.

" I miss you Sara, I was such an idiot. Please give me another chance."

"Hank you lied to me and used me. Why should I believe you this?"

"Sara I was dumb and I'm sooo sorry. I dumped her, because I realized it was all a lie, and that you were the one I loved and always have, since the day I met you." Before Sara could respond Hank had stepped forward and kissed her. Sara wanted to push him off but she was so emotionally and physically drained that she just gave into the kiss.

The next morning Sara woke up and felt arms around her. She was about to freak when she turned around and saw that it was Hank. Smiling, she lay back down. Someone wanted her and loved her and she was not about to run from that.

That night when she arrived at work, they crew was all talking about Grissom's new girl. But it stopped when Sara walked in. Sighing in annoyance, she said, "Guys seriously grow up and don't stop talking on my behalf." As soon as Sara finished, Grissom walked in telling everybody to get to work. Catherine and Sara had to finish up the paper work on their Murder Suicide. They had been working for a few hours when Sara's cell went off. Seeing the number she smiled and picked up.

"Hey baby" said Hanks voice.

"Hey, what's up?" Sara asked

"Well, I want to take my sexy girl out to breakfast after your shift."

"Ok babe where do you want to go?" she asked.

"The Dinner 7am. I have to go. Bye."

When she hung up she saw Nick grinning like a boy who had just seen his first naked women. Then he started to taunt her.

"Sara's got a boyfriend…"

"Sara's got a boyfriend..."

Laughing, Sara playfully punched Nick and told him to shut up. They went on like that for a while, but stopped when they saw Warrick and Catherine standing in the doorway, smiling. The four of them had finished up early. So they hung out in the break room until the end of shift.

Sara had got to talking with Nick and was running a few minutes late for her date with Hank. She pulled up to the dinner at 7:15. When she got there she immediately started apologizing, but her apologies were cut off by Hank.

" Where the hell have you been? I've been waiting for you …"

" I was talking to Nick." but before she continue, Hank slapped her. She was so shocked she started to back up, but was stopped by Hank grabbing her and apologizing. He pulled her into a hug and kept saying sorry.

" I'm sorry Sara, I didn't mean it."

"It's ok, " she whispered. She followed him into the diner and they ate their breakfast in silence.

He walked her to her car and he hugged her one more time before driving off. Her face still sore, she got in her car and drove home. When she got home she jumped in a hot shower then collapsed on her bed crying. She eventually cried herself to sleep. She woke up around five and got dressed then got in her car and drove to work.

As the weeks went by Hank and Sara spent more and more time together. Sara was actually starting to believe that Hank loved her. Except when he was hitting her and screaming at her, which was becoming a ritual in their relationship. But as she got closer to Hank, she was becoming more withdrawn from work. Nick and Catherine were both getting worried, along with the rest of the group. The only one who didn't seem to notice was Grissom.

It was a dull and rainy Wednesday when Catherine and Sara started to fight over a choice Catherine had made in the interrogation. To Catherine's surprise, Sara backed off almost like a dog that had been struck one to many times. Deciding enough was enough, Catherine cornered her in the locker room at the end of the shift.

"Hey Sara can we talk?" Catherine asked.

"Sure" was Sara's reply.

"Look, for weeks now you've been withdrawn and down. You're always coming in with bruises and giving us lame excuses as to how you got them. Please Sara, we care. I care. Please talk to me." Expecting a screaming fit, Catherine was shocked once again when Sara's only reply was a whisper.

"I can't." She then turned and walked out of the locker room and out of the lab. Catherine started to head out after her when she was stopped by Brass.

" We have the warrant for the Johnson case for you coming."

Sighing inwardly, Catherine followed Brass. Sara would have to wait.

Later, after a grueling search of the house, Catherine had left some evidence with the lab techs before taking a break. Since she was a Senior CSI, no one would question her going into the file cabinet and pulling Sara's personnel file.

When she found Sara's address she wrote it down. When the shift ended she took the address and headed out to Sara's. She got there in ten minutes. As she made her way up to Apartment 20, Catherine heard screaming.

" YOU DUMB PIECE OF SHIT! CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT? I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY I STAY WITH YOU!" Then there was a loud smash. Without thinking, Catherine kicked the door in. what she saw when the door opened scared and shocked her. Food was all over the place and Hank was standing over a bloodied and very scared Sara.

Catherine drew her gun and said: "DROP THE KNIFE HANK!"

"Why should I spare this piece of shit?" Hank hissed, stepping closer.

" One more step Hank and I will shoot you."

"Yeah right." He laughed. "Let's see it bitch." He started to move again when he heard a shot go off, and he froze as the bullet hit him in the stomach and he fell forward.

Catherine ran to Sara and pulled her to safety. She called the ambulance and went with Sara to the hospital. After the doctors finished cleaning up Sara, Catherine brought her to her car. After they got in, Catherine asked, "How long it had been going on?" But when Sara only shrugged, she decided to drop it, but told Sara she would not be alone tonight. She would be coming home with her.

After she got Sara home, she got Sara in the shower then called the guys to fill them in and then went to her kitchen looking for something to cook. When Sara came out, she asked Catherine if she needed any help but Catherine only shooed her away deciding to just order pizza. When the doorbell rang a little while later. Sara jumped and gave Catherine a questioning look.

" Don't worry it's not the guys I told them you needed some time." She got the pizza and made Sara eat. She then helped her to bed, assuring her that she would be there when she woke up the next morning.


	4. Is Sara safe with Greg?

Sara awoke to the aroma of home cooking. Getting out of bed, she went to see what was cooking. When she got to her kitchen, she saw Catherine busy at the stove. She seemed to be attempting to flip a very stubborn pancake. Stifling a laugh, Sara ran back to her bedroom, grabbed some clothes, and jumped in the shower. The hot water felt really good on her very sore and bruised body. When she was done, she was met at the bathroom door by a very happy looking Catherine.

"Ok, I have a surprise for you" Catherine said while pulling her towards the kitchen. Halfway there, she made Sara close her eyes and she guided the younger women the rest of the way. She then uncovered her eyes and anxiously waited for a response from Sara. What Sara saw shocked her. There were two places set candles with wine glasses filled with orange juice and as the main course, happy faced pancakes. Turning to Catherine, she thanked her and the two women began to eat. They talked about Lindsey and work, and basically everything but Hank and last nights events. They were interrupted when both of their cells went off, calling them in. Since the page had said 911 they decided to just go in one car.

The ride to lab was short and quiet. But when Sara walked** in her worried "Big brothers" swarmed her**. Greg was the first to speak. "Hey Sara, you ok? Is there anything I can do?"

" Well guys I'm ok considering Hank was arrested and I have a broken heart once again. But I'll recover." Before she could finish she was scooped up in a group hug. But they were interrupted when Grissom walked in.

" You were called in early because we have a case multiple homicide, plus a suicide in lake mead. I want Nick, Cat, and Warrick to come with me. Sara and Greg take the suicide and if it's not a suicide, investigate and if it is, wrap it up and meet us at the scene." The csi's broke off to go process their scenes, and when Catherine and Grissom were alone, she ripped him a good one.

" Of all the dumbest things you've done this has got to be the worst! She was attacked last night and you call her … fine it was an emergency. I can see that but you sent her to a scene alone with Greg, who is new to the field. What were you thinking?"

" I sent her there, Catherine, because it should be an easy one and Greg needs the experience. Calm down. She will be fine, you'll see."

Greg and Sara arrived at the Teens and met Brass. He showed them where the body was. From a first glance, it seemed to be an obvious suicide. Sara told Greg to talk to the parents with Brass while she took the photos. Greg approached the parents Mr. and Mrs. Smith. " I'm am so sorry for your loss, I understand this is a Rough time …" But before he could continue, a loud bang rang through the house. Greg and Brass bolted up the stairs and saw Sara on the floor, blood rushing from her body.

Brass yelled in to his walkie " Officer down … I repeat officer down. We need Emergency medical service at 43, Niño lane ASAP…" while Greg ran to Sara and tried to stop the bleeding. In all the confusion no one saw the blond man walking calmly away from the scene, smirking.


	5. Is that really Sara?

The Emts rushed in and started to work on her. When they were finally able to stabilize her, they rushed her out to the ambulance. Before they pulled away, Greg hopped in the back and grabbed her hand.

The rest of their team was processing the Henderson's house when Grissom got the call about Sara. Brass had called him to tell him to get over to the hospital and take the team with him because he had gotten news that Sara might not make it. He cleared it with Ecklie, and the day shift would take over the Henderson case. And so the graveyard shift rushed to Desert Palms. When they arrived, they were met by a very disgruntled Brass and Greg.

" What the hell happened?" Catherine demanded.

" Uh well.. I was .." Greg started

Brass cut in. " Greg and I were interviewing the parents and Sara was taking the photos, when we heard the shot and when we got upstairs, Sara was on the floor and the shooter was gone."

Before Catherine could ask anymore questions, the doctor came into the waiting room to give them some news on Sara ." Well I have some good news and bad news about Miss Sidle. First off, we have safely removed the bullet, but when she was shot it, hit her lung, and yes we have her stabilized for now but a machine is helping her breath her and we won't now the extent of the brain damage, if there is any at all, until tomorrow when we take her off the respirator." The group waited by Sara's bed until the next morning. The stress levels were so strong when the doctor came in to remove the respirator that you could have pierced a hole into it with a knife.

The doctor removed it and they waited and after 3 seconds they saw her chest rise and fall. Smiling the doctor turned to her " family " and told them that she was out of danger and would probably wake up within the hour or so. Hearing that, Grissom Nick, Warrick and Brass headed back to work, to find out who did this to Sara. But Catherine and Greg were taking time off to stay with Sara.

The days went by and strong Sara showed improvement with every single day that passed. And when the day came that she could go home, Catherine was there once again, taking care of her. So she wasn't surprised when Catherine pulled in to her own driveway instead of Sara's. Catherine brought her in and showed her around. The day she came home from the hospital the women just hung out watching movies.

For the next three weeks she grew closer to Catherine, Greg, Warrick, and everyone else, actually. The gang would get together watch the game, or just hangout. So when it was time to go back to work, Sara was almost a different person. She had friends; real friends that had helped when she was hurt and helped through Hanks interrogation, and they were even there for the first day of his trial.

So when Grissom announced that there was a new promotion on the table she just played it off. She had learned from the last time to act like you don't want it. Just like Nick she would be dedicated, but not to dedicated, she would not lose it. So once they got their assignments she grabbed an application and kept moving. she was paired up with her two favorite guys tonight, Nicky and Greg. They threesome headed to their scene. It was pretty routine, as they had a hit and run. Some Punk teenager had been drunk and ran into a boy on a bike and had left him there. Thankfully, there had been no fatalities.

So all the csi's had to do was process the scene. As they were processing the scene, Nick pulled Sara aside and said " Hey about that promotion, I'm not going for it. I don't need it right now, so I really hope you get it." Before Sara could answer he smiled and walked away.


	6. Promotions

As the weeks went by, Nick, Greg, and Sara became known around the lab as the three Musketeers. They were inseparable- where you found one of them, you were bound to find the others. She trusted them with her secrets as they did with her. Work wise, Sara's plan was working perfectly. She had not exploded once and she hadn't maxed out on overtime either. There was no reason why she shouldn't get the promotion.

So when Ecklie came in that December night to announce to whom the promotion went to, you can understand her shock and her hurt from his words when he went up to Nick and said: " well Nick, from the two recommendations I received from both Grissom and Catherine, I am convinced you are the right man for the job. Congratulations!"

She tried to hide her disappointment and congratulated him along with the rest of the team. She even forced herself to go to his party after shift. Finally, the party ended and she could go home and be alone.

She walked into her empty apartment as the tears started to fall. How could they? He didn't even apply for it. She didn't screw up, but then again maybe she did. She was always screwing up with Grissom and after the DUI...

As she made her way to the kitchen she made up her mind. She was done. The tears continued to fall as she reached for the knife. She sat down and rolled up her sleeves. She started to drag the knife over her old scars from her childhood. She didn't push deep right away- it took her a few minutes to make the decision. She put the knife down and picked up a piece of paper, and wrote:

_I'm sorry guys_, _I've tried so hard to fit in and be part of the team. I was brought under horrible circumstances and I stayed for a man who strings me along when he feels that he needs me. Nicky and Greg I love you with all my Heart, Warrick you were a great friend ,but I have to go , I can't even do my job right. _

Before getting back to the knife. As she pushed harder, the blood started to flow. Eventually she blacked out.

After everyone had gone home Nick made his way over to her apartment. He knew she had been upset and how much she wanted that promotion.

_Damn_, he thought. Why the fuck couldn't Grissom do anything right for Sara? The drive was short; Nick made it there in record time. He sped up the stairs and knocked on the door. He waited a few minutes then he fished the spare key she had given him a few weeks back from his pocket.

" Sara?" he called. When he got no response, he walked further into the apartment until his eyes fell one her almost lifeless body lying on the floor. He rushed to her, grabbing his phone as he checked for a pulse. He yelled into the phone. " I need an ambulance at apartment 20 H on the north side of Vegas ASAP!"


End file.
